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Decimal numbers such as 3.762 are used in situations which call for more precision than
whole numbers provide.
As with whole numbers, a digit in a decimal number has a value which depends on the place
of the digit. The places to the left of the decimal point are ones, tens, hundreds, and so on, just
as with whole numbers. This table shows the decimal place value for various positions:
Note that adding extra zeros to the right of the last decimal digit does not change the value of
the decimal number.
Place (underlined)
1.234567
1.234567
1.234567
1.234567
1.234567
1.234567
1.234567
Name of Position
Ones (units) position
Tenths
Hundredths
Thousandths
Ten thousandths
Hundred Thousandths
Millionths
Example:
In the number 3.762, the 3 is in the ones place, the 7 is in the tenths place, the 6 is in the
hundredths place, and the 2 is in the thousandths place.
Example:
The number 14.504 is equal to 14.50400, since adding extra zeros to the right of a decimal
number does not change its value.
Adding Decimals
To add decimals, line up the decimal points and then follow the rules for adding or subtracting
whole numbers, placing the decimal point in the same column as above.
When one number has more decimal places than another, use 0's to give them the same
number of decimal places.
Example:
76.69 + 51.37
1) Line up the decimal points:
76.69
+51.37
2) Then add.
76.6
9
+51.
37
128.
06
Example:
12.924 + 3.6
1) Line up the decimal points:
12.924
+ 3.600
2) Then add.
12.924
+ 3.600
16.524
Subtracting Decimals
To subtract decimals, line up the decimal points and then follow the rules for adding or
subtracting whole numbers, placing the decimal point in the same column as above.
When one number has more decimal places than another, use 0's to give them the same
number of decimal places.
Example:
18.2 - 6.008
1) Line up the decimal points.
18.2
- 6.008
2) Add extra 0's, using the fact that 18.2 = 18.200
18.200
- 6.008
3) Subtract.
18.200
- 6.008
12.192
whole number portion. If the whole number parts are both equal, we compare the decimal
portions of the numbers. The leftmost decimal digit is the most significant digit. Compare the
pairs of digits in each decimal place, starting with the most significant digit until you find a
pair that is different. The number with the larger digit is the larger number. Note that the
number with the most digits is not necessarily the largest.
Example:
Compare 1 and 0.002. We begin by comparing the whole number parts: in this case 1>0, 0
being the whole number part of 0.002, and so 1>0.002.
Example:
Compare 0.402 and 0.412. The numbers 0.402 and 0.412 have the same number of digits, and
their whole number parts are both 0. We compare the next most significant digit of each
number, the digit in the tenths place, 4 in each case. Since they are equal, we go on to the
hundredths place, and in this case, 0<1, so 0.402<0.412.
Example:
Compare 120.65 and 34.999. Comparing the whole number parts, 120>34, so 120.65>34.999.
Example:
Compare 12.345 and 12.097. Since the whole number parts are both equal, we compare the
decimal portions starting with the tenths digit. Since 3>0, we have 12.345>12.097.
Note:
Remember that adding extra zeros to the right of a decimal does not change its value:
2.4 = 2.40 = 2.400 = 2.4000.
1400 7..
Since 14 7 = 2, and 1400 is 100 times greater than 14, the answer is 2 100 = 200.
Many problems are similar to the above example, where the answer is easily obtained by
adding on or taking off an appropriate number of 0's. Others are more complicated.
Example:
4934 6. Use long division.
When rounding an answer, divide one place further than the place you're rounding to, and
round the result. Add 0's to the right of the number being divided, if necessary.
Example:
1.0 6. Round to the nearest thousandth.
To round 0.16666 . . . to the nearest thousandth, we take 4 places to the right of the decimal
point and round to 3 places. Here, we round 0.1666 to 0.167, the answer.
Be aware that some problems are less difficult and do not require this procedure.
Example:
6 2.00
This is the same as 6 2! The answer is 3.
Factorial Notation n!
The product of the first n whole numbers is written as n!, and is the product
1 2 3 4 (n - 1) n.
Examples:
4! = 1 2 3 4 = 24
11! = 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 = 39916800
Tricks:
When dividing factorials, note that many of the numbers cancel out!
Note:
The number 0! Is defined to be 1.
Square Roots
The square root of a whole number n is the number r with the property that r r = n.
We write this as
.
We say that the number n is the square of the number r.
Examples:
The square root of 9 is 3, since 3 3 = 9.
The square root of 2 is close to 1.41421. We say close to because the digits to the right of the
decimal point in the square root of 2 continue forever, without any repeating pattern. Such a
number is called an irrational number, meaning that it cannot be written as a fraction.
Tricks:
Since the square root of a whole number n is the number r with the property that r r = n, we
always have
That is, the square of the square root of any number is just the original number.
We also have, for any number r that the square root of the square of r is the absolute value of
r.
Example:
From the example above, we see that each positive number n actually has 2 numbers r that
satisfy r r = n, one is positive, and the other is negative.